Hi Guys, last chapter before I tie up the ends in an epilogue (see, told ya I had this last chapter pretty much completed - bet that surprised you!)

Anyway, thank you so much for your incredible support and kind words (especially when things got a bit tough in RL) as well as your enthusiasm for this story and its characters.

Nearly there guys. Please let me have your reviews - I'm not posting the epilogue until I have 30 reviews (learnt my lesson from the last time - ha ha!)

xxx

Once she'd helped pack up camp and caught up with her friends at Boston and Trenton, Steph walked towards the camp fire then stopped near the edge so that she could watch the men as they stood round the massive pit where the pig was roasting. Laughing and relaxing now that their contest was over, the groups of bodies were intermittently revealed then shrouded in plumes of smoke from the flames.

She had one hand shoved in a pocket and the other was firmly wrapped round her ice cold beer. All was well in her world as not only was the contest over, but tonight she would be reunited with Batman's sheets, Batman's body, Batman's…

"Penny for them, Babe." A soft voice whispered into her ear. She smiled as she leant back into hard muscle and a beating heart. She blushed and he chuckled as he realised what she'd been thinking about.

"Later, Babe." he whispered softly as he drew her against him and began to nibble gently on her ear. From a distance she thought she heard Lester yell "get a room!" They both sniggered softly and Ranger stopped his actions as he wrapped himself further around her and inhaling her scent as he rested his head on her shoulder so he could watch his staff enjoying themselves.

"This has been quite the experience, Batman." She said softly, pulling his focus back to her.

"How so?" he asked lazily as he began to nuzzle her not so soft curls. No matter how you looked at it, Steph was positive she had collected a few furry animals as the days had passed. Now she could totally see the attraction of a buzz cut. Somehow Ranger didn't seem to be bothered about the additions to her nest, though.

"Well for one, we really taught you about Atlanta's sneaky side." She giggled.

Ranger playfully swatted her ass "Yeah, yeah. Always expect the unexpected." He deadpanned as he leaned around her and took a swig from her beer bottle.

"Hey, get your own, Buster!" she grumbled good naturedly, pretending to be cross.

"Can't. Would need to let go and I don't plan on doing that for a while." He whispered, grinding his growing 'problem' into her back.

"Ah!" she replied, all knowing.

"Ah indeed." He replied as he grabbed her beer again.

Contented silence surrounded them as they observed the people that made Rangeman the high calibre company that it was and it allowed Steph to relect back over the last 24 hours.

Playing their Joker when they did, Miami had aced the assault course and gone on to win the overall tournament, but Atlanta had come a very respectable joint second with Boston. Trenton came 4th which left New York in last place. Even then it had been tight – only 4 points between first and last place.

Thanks to Enzo's antics they hadn't stood a chance during the body guarding challenge, but despite the fact he'd managed to set fire to two of Atlanta's vehicles and a locked wooden crate before Jed had managed to sneak up on him Steph didn't feel cheated. Later that evening Connor had filled her in on the bits she'd missed out on.

Flashback:

Connor walked up to the edge of Steph's tent "knock, knock." He said as he walked in without waiting for a reply.

"Hey! I might have been indecent!" Steph grumbled out as she looked up at him from her cot, clothed in all but her boots. She dropped her brand new Kindle on the bed beside her.

"I should be so lucky." He grinned suggestively.

"Pervert!"

"You wish!"

Good natured silence filled the air for a few seconds.

"So, you wanna fill me in on what happened with Enzo when you dragged him off for a shower then?"

"Yeah. Can't believe the little punk really fooled us with his geekiness."

"Geekiness? Is that even a word?"

"Sounds like one to me. Anyways, little shit really did a number huh? Can't believe he tried to torch a couple of the SUV's. Only a few burn marks though. Never knew they were so bomb proof..." he added with a knowing smirk.

"Ha ha. You are sooo not funny." Steph rolled her eyes and pretended to be offended as she folded her arms. "And the supplies?"

"Yeah, punk assed kid only managed to destroy one crate. Funnily enough it was the one with the stolen toilet paper in it."

They both chuckled. Thanks inadvertently to Enzo, Ranger had gotten even after all.

"Once we'd stripped him down, both physically and mentally..."

"You weren't too rough, I hope."

"Nah, just a coupla slaps, to make him focus and maybe we were the ones doing the washing... Anyway, looks like Enzo was Hector Gonzales 'contribution' to the games." He used air quotes to emphasis the word contribution. "Looks like he was given a very specific brief, telling him that it was pay back for something we'd done so he had carte blanche to do anything he liked to mess with us." Connor explained. "Apparently he was told to 'look like an angel, behave like the devil'. If I ever meet this Gonzales guy, I'll…"

"Leave it, Connor. You so don't want to cross Hector, believe me. Much as I adore him, he's seriously bad ass ex gang, with two teardrop tats under his eye and he's as scary as fuck. He moves to the beat of a very different tune, so even Ranger has been known to tread carefully at certain times."

Connor nodded, stunned by her description but at the same time not surprised that they were obviously friends. She really did seem to bring out the best in people he concluded as he mentally raised his eyes to Heaven and saluted Megan.

"So, tomorrow we find out who won, huh?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. Doubt it was us, but it's been a fun ride!" Steph grinned out as their conversation changed to other matters.

End flashback

"What did you say to him, Babe?" Ranger asked as he gestured to a very thoughtful but relaxed looking Enzo.

Steph giggled "we talked about what had happened to him in his past and how he's learning to be a kid again, thanks to Hector." She replied as she caught Enzo's eye, they nodded and smiled at each other.

Ranger knew exactly what they'd both discussed so squeezed her tighter.

"What's that for?" she asked, turning in his arms to look at him.

"Have I ever told you how proud I am of you?"

"You know, don't you?"

Ranger had the decency to look guilty.

"Busted!" He thought.

"Not too sore at losing?" he said after a few seconds, trying to change the subject.

"I'm not done with you Manoso." She said "I will wring it out of you, you know that don't you?" she added, jabbing at his chest with her pointer finger.

"Babe." He said, knowing that this was far from over. His cock twitched, Dios, he was looking forward to her interrogations! "Not now, Manoso!" the voice of reason warned him.

"So, coming second, not quite first. You sure you're not disappointed? At one point you must have thought you had it in the bag."

"Maybe at one point towards the end, especially when you introduced the Jokers, but on the whole we decided we were the total underdogs and we had nothing to lose. Considering what a dysfunctional bunch of fuckups we all were to begin with, we figured why not just enjoy ourselves and twist the odds to our favour any way we could."

"Not sure how to take that, Babe. Sounds like Atlanta is back to square one!"

"Oh, I don't think you have anything to worry about. My boys are quite the team players now, especially the likes of Mungo!"

"Your boys, your team, eh?"

"Yeah! Ranger they were amazing and I love every one of them. They have come together so well as a team thanks to this whole exercise."

Ranger grinned in her hair then kissed her clumpy curls. "I think you may have had a hand in their, er… development but it's still good to know Babe that I've helped in a small way." Now was not the time to weird her out with what her boys had probably done behind closed doors when she'd first arrived and turned their world upside down. Her reaction to Enzo reinforced his decision to remain silent.

Just then Connor wandered over and held out a beer bottle filled hand to Ranger who moved Steph slightly over but still in front of him so that he could accept it.

"Gotta hand it to you, Carlos, great tournament and great party!" Connor said as a smile ghosted his lips.

Ranger grinned back as he took a swig.

"Grub's up!" Ella yelled and cheers sounded off around them as everyone present started to make their way over to the fire. Plates bearing buns and salad and with cutlery in hand they all lined up and waited happily for a hunk of the succulent pork Luis was cutting off.

Steph stepped out of Ranger's embrace and grabbed Connor to hug him fiercely. "Knew you could do it, so proud of you and I know Megan would have been too." she whispered into his ear before dancing out of his stunned embrace and back towards Ranger.

"Time to feed the beast" she giggled out as her stomach made itself known. Grabbing Ranger's hand she set off to the back of the queue, dragging him behind her.

"He doesn't stand a chance, does he?" Tank said quietly as he slid up behind Connor who was standing with his mouth open.

"Are they always like this?" He asked.

"Nah. Sometimes she lets him win." Tank chuckled.